The present invention relates to an improvement to rotary hoes and, more particularly, to a cutter for cutting trash and crop residue that gets carried around a wheel of a no-till rotary hoe to aid in cleaning such trash from the rotary hoe.
Earth working implements such as rotary hoes used to break up the soil crust close to young plants or to cultivate the fields after plowing have been used for many years. Today, as more farmers utilize chisel plowing rather than moldboard plowing, grass, plant roots, barbed wire, twine, and other trash materials remain on the ground surface. Subsequently, when the ground is cultivated with rotary hoes, the surface trash not turned under during chisel plowing is picked up by the rotary hoes and potentially wrapped around the hoe wheel axle.
When trash is carried around the hoe wheel axle, it is often wedged causing the wheel to stop rotating.
To reduce trash buildup on rotary hoes, it has been common practice to position frame-mounted stripper fingers near the rotary tine path so the trash can be stripped from the rotating tine members. The problem with stripper fingers is that they do not minimize trash buildup on hoe wheel axles. A method to remove trash lodged in the tines of the hoe wheels is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,971, but that structure does not protect the hoe wheel axle either.
Farmers can greatly reduce the use of herbicides and in some cases eliminate them totally with the use of a rotary hoe. When herbicides are needed, they can be used in conjunction with the rotary hoe which will help the herbicide penetrate the soil and get to the roots of the weeds faster and directly thus allowing a greatly reduced amount of herbicide to be used. But farmers will not begin to use rotary hoes until the hoes can be cost effective for them to use. The cutter aids in removing trash to reduce down time and the effects of stuck or jammed hoe wheels in causing unwanted furrows.